John Shinn
Oklahoma spent the last month spinning its wheels. It entered Friday night’s series opener against Kansas just 7-6 in April and needing to find some traction.
An 8-0 victory over the Jayhawks certainly gave the impression the Sooners were getting out of the bog from which they’ve been stuck.
“We know we have to turn on the jets,” OU catcher Jackson Williams said after going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. “We have to get something going.”
The Sooners improved to 28-15 overall and, more importantly, 8-8 in the Big 12 with their third straight conference win. The victory put them at the .500 mark in conference play for the first time since their 3-0 decision over Nebraska April 13.
It was almost a carbon copy of that performance.
Stephen Porlier, who pitched a complete game in that win over Huskers, threw seven innings of shutout ball to improve to 6-4.
He didn’t have the dominant stuff he had two weeks earlier, but made up for any deficiencies with grit.
The Jayhawks (20-26, 6-13 Big 12) left runners stranded four times in the first six innings and only managed four hits off OU’s ace.
“He pitched with great poise out there,” Sooner coach Sunny Golloway said. “He stayed composed.”
Control was the only thing Porlier didn’t have in his corner. He walked four and hit two more.
“It was one of those nights where you feel like you can’t control much,” he said. “You just have to be effectively wild.”
He was. And had enough command to keep Kansas at bay until the run support arrived.
The Sooners were coming off a three-game series at Kansas State in which they scored 38 runs. But Kansas’ Andy Marks had them baffled until Aaron Reza, who went 2-for-3, poked an RBI single in the fifth inning to give OU the lead.
It turned out to be the spark that lit the fuse.
Zach Hedges, who went 2-for-3 in just his fourth start of the season, and Joseph Hughes both smacked RBI doubles in the sixth inning to give the Sooners a three-run lead.
Marks (3-6) left after 51?3 innings. The left-hander gave up nine hits, but the Sooners did the brunt of their damage against Kansas’ bullpen.
Hughes’ double came off Andres Esquibel and the Sooners got to the right-hander for four more runs in the sixth inning.
Williams’ bases-loaded triple was the final nail in the coffin. It put the Sooners in position to win their second straight series and, perhaps, get their first conference sweep.
“This is a big win on a Friday night at home,” OU coach Sunny Golloway said. “We need to come back tomorrow and really get after it.”
Of course, the Sooners have been in this position before. OU’s last home series against Nebraska started with a shutout victory, but ended with back-to-back losses.
That’s the way April has gone for the OU. Every momentum surge has fizzled after a handful of games.
“We have to get in here and get as many as we can,” Williams said. “We’re shooting for three and we’re going to do our best to get these three games.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
